The Upstate Life

Monday, November 02, 2009

TUL's Take: Matt & Kim @ University of Maryland

The blog is back! At least for now. I'd get into why I've been on hiatus for oh so very long but that's not why we're here today. No, instead, I'm here to discuss how we were embraced by the infectious energy of Matt & Kim inside the Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland last Friday night.

Despite their hit song "Daylight" being the soundtrack of a Bacardi advertisement, Matt & Kim have rode the wave of success following the release of their first proper full-length, Grand. They had already played a sold-out show at the Black Cat a few months ago, but their popularity has even soared higher since then.

Let's put it this way: the band was slated to open for Weezer at a sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City the very next night. Something tells me that they felt a hell of a lot more comfortable in College Park performing in front of a few hundred students whom were for the most part decked out in Halloween regalia.

Matt & Kim came on-stage around 9pm sporting fake black eyes and immediately began into their set, kicking off (from what I can recall) with "Cutdown". Honestly, it's hard to remember their entire setlist because the two of them were so into each song (and each other) that you were simply captivated by how much energy and happiness they were exuding while they were respectively bashing their drums and keyboards.

One could tell how much fun the both of them were having by not only their nonstop smiles at one another, but also from performing in front of a lively crowd in a somewhat intimate setting complete with bopping heads, dancing, and even some crowd-surfing. When Kim's snare drum broke, Matt initiated a hip-hop beat on his synthesizer and told his bandmate to get down while her instrument was being attended to which elicited a roar from the crowd.

Not to be outdone, Matt claimed that in the spirit of Halloween, he would remove an article of clothing before each song. Let's just say by the time the band closed the evening with "Daylight", Matt was left singing in just his underwear. Don't think they could've pulled that off at Hammerstein.

All and all it was a very enjoyable show and their hour-long set seemed to fly by due to their nonstop dynamism. Excellent concert and instantly made up for the fact that I was unable to attend their Black Cat outing. Dare I say this show was probably better given the atmosphere and antics? Well done.

Posted by Brett at 5:45 PM |